Accidental drive renaming at DVinfo.net

Nick Wilson · January 14th, 2010, 06:27 AM

Another question for you founts of Mac knowledge...

A few times, often when I've been working on 2 computers and have used the wrong keyboard, I have renamed either the system drive or an attached external drive. I assume that I have had nothing on the desktop and I have pressed return, then typed, then return again.

It is a bit of a pain having to change the name back - is there any way of locking the drive names so I cannot make this mistake?

Cheers

Robert Lane · January 14th, 2010, 08:47 AM

The only way to "lock" the name is to completely lock the drive is using the permissions feature in the "get info" function. This will lock the name but also turn the drive into a "read only" volume. Messing with permissions at any time can easily turn into a nightmare situation down the road so it's never a good idea to alter them.

You'll need to be more careful with your drive management and multi-station usage.

William Hohauser · January 14th, 2010, 03:22 PM

Take a screen shot of the desktop and keep it safe. If you ever re-name a drive again, you'll have the exact drive names on hand to fix the problem.

Paul E. Coleman · January 16th, 2010, 07:54 AM

...from the desktop in Finder > Preferences > General Tab. for access to files, I have strategically placed folders on the desktop that only serve to open a finder window for access to my many disks/partitions. You can rearrange them as you wish in the sidebar which helps keep back-up volumes out of harms way as well.

And since I have three monitors, I have six folders, one left and one right side of each screen, which open to their respective locations (top or bottom of screen) so I have quick access wherever I may be. I have the folders set to open in "columns" and can navigate quickly to files without always moving and resizing windows.

Sounds like a lot, but I see the value of the set-up when I watch friends right click to open finder windows, move them, resize them, then open or move a file or folder. Took a couple of minutes to create few folders, place and resize them and rename them "left upper", "left lower", "Center upper" etc.

I could leave an access point in the Dock but I could be anywhere within my 60 inches of screen and don't want to always trackball over to the dock just to get a file.

David Sholle · January 16th, 2010, 10:49 AM

In Finder>Preferences, un-select Hard disks, and the disk will not show on the desktop. I think that is what Paul is saying.

Nick Wilson · January 16th, 2010, 04:32 PM

Thanks all for your help.

Nick

January 14th, 2010, 06:27 AM	#1
Nick Wilson Major Player Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Northampton, UK Posts: 259	Accidental drive renaming Another question for you founts of Mac knowledge... A few times, often when I've been working on 2 computers and have used the wrong keyboard, I have renamed either the system drive or an attached external drive. I assume that I have had nothing on the desktop and I have pressed return, then typed, then return again. It is a bit of a pain having to change the name back - is there any way of locking the drive names so I cannot make this mistake? Cheers __________________ Nick Wilson www.cinescene.co.uk

January 14th, 2010, 03:22 PM	#3
William Hohauser Inner Circle Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: New York City Posts: 2,650	Take a screen shot of the desktop and keep it safe. If you ever re-name a drive again, you'll have the exact drive names on hand to fix the problem. __________________ William Hohauser - New York City Producer/Edit/Camera/Animation

January 16th, 2010, 07:54 AM	#4
Paul E. Coleman Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: 42º 12' N, 72º 32' W Posts: 88	Remove the Volumes... ...from the desktop in Finder > Preferences > General Tab. for access to files, I have strategically placed folders on the desktop that only serve to open a finder window for access to my many disks/partitions. You can rearrange them as you wish in the sidebar which helps keep back-up volumes out of harms way as well. And since I have three monitors, I have six folders, one left and one right side of each screen, which open to their respective locations (top or bottom of screen) so I have quick access wherever I may be. I have the folders set to open in "columns" and can navigate quickly to files without always moving and resizing windows. Sounds like a lot, but I see the value of the set-up when I watch friends right click to open finder windows, move them, resize them, then open or move a file or folder. Took a couple of minutes to create few folders, place and resize them and rename them "left upper", "left lower", "Center upper" etc. I could leave an access point in the Dock but I could be anywhere within my 60 inches of screen and don't want to always trackball over to the dock just to get a file.

January 16th, 2010, 04:32 PM	#6
Nick Wilson Major Player Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Northampton, UK Posts: 259	Thanks all for your help. Nick __________________ Nick Wilson www.cinescene.co.uk

January 14th, 2010, 08:47 AM	#2
Robert Lane Go Go Godzilla Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Scottsdale, AZ USA Posts: 2,825 Images: 15	The only way to "lock" the name is to completely lock the drive is using the permissions feature in the "get info" function. This will lock the name but also turn the drive into a "read only" volume. Messing with permissions at any time can easily turn into a nightmare situation down the road so it's never a good idea to alter them. You'll need to be more careful with your drive management and multi-station usage.

January 16th, 2010, 10:49 AM	#5
David Sholle Regular Crew Join Date: May 2007 Location: Mammoth Lakes CA Posts: 125	In Finder>Preferences, un-select Hard disks, and the disk will not show on the desktop. I think that is what Paul is saying.